Vieuxtemps/ Euler/ Rivinius - Works for Viola & Piano

On the violin Henri Vieuxtemps made his quick way from one success to the next, and Robert Schumann even compared him to Niccolo Paganini. However, the viola was his secret love, and he created some of his most beautiful compositions for it. Christian Euler and Paul Rivinius have set standards with their recordings of English viola music and works by Paul Hindemith, and their Vieuxtemps interpretations are guaranteed to delight avid viola fans- and not only them! The cantabile playing style so typical of the Franco-Belgian violin school and such an important influence on Vieuxtemps and then on his pupil Ysaye is especially effective when executed on the viola. When Christian Euler plays the beginning of the Sonata op. 35 and it's long melody lines and the standout Barcarole not only so very airily and freely but also with sonorous intensity, the result is pure listening joy. The Elegy op. 30 is perhaps the most beautiful contribution to the program. From the very beginning Paul Rivinius employs dryly speckled chords to produce an atmosphere in which the melancholy song of the viola is able to unfold in endless lament. And then at the end, when things really get down to business, what remains is astonishment at all that can be done and is done on the viola.